The Republic of Ireland began life after Vera Pauw with a 3-0 UEFA Nations League defeat of Northern Ireland in front of a record crowd at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
Goals from Lucy Quinn, Kyra Carusa and Lily Agg put the spirited visitors to the sword in balmy conditions, as a landmark day was marked with an important win.
The Nations League feeds directly into qualifying for Euro 2025, and the Girls in Green will want - and expect - to win their group, which also includes Albania and Hungary, who they face in Budapest on Tuesday.
But there was more at stake than all that. This was the first time an Ireland women's football team had ever played at the Lansdowne Road venue. The official attendance of 35,994 was roughly five times the previous record of 7,633, which turned up at Tallaght Stadium for the pre-World Cup friendly against France.
In that context, a victory and decent performance drew a line under the sand after a protracted and messy split from the Pauw era.
It was hardly a vintage performance - Ireland were often sloppy in possession and stilted going forward - but it’s a win, and a definitive step forward after a draining summer of off-the-field drama.
Gleeson sprung two surprises in her starting XI. New recruit Caitlin Hayes - who only received her international clearance on Friday - got the nod in defence, while Tyler Toland came in for her first start in four years. Toland had been frozen out completely under Pauw after a major fallout with the former manager.
Pre-match, Gleeson said Toland was in the team to bring "aggression and assertiveness". The excellent Blackburn Rovers midfielder didn't let her manager down, but Ireland were generally insipid in the opening stages.
Their passing was pedestrian, the movement too slow.
It enabled the North to establish a well-organised and rigid shape, with Abbie Magee and Caragh Hamilton doubling up on McCabe effectively in an uneventful first 20 minutes.
Tanya Oxtoby’s side didn’t just sit back either. They were happy to commit bodies forward whenever they got the chance, veteran skipper Marissa Callaghan regularly darting upfield to support striker Simone Magill.
However, as the half wore on, Gleeson’s charges began to take control.
McCabe scored a brilliant free-kick at this venue for Raheny United in the 2014 FAI Cup final against DLR Waves. Her eyes lit up when Rebecca Holloway bundled over Carusa to cough up a free 25 yards from, on the right side of the box. This time, however, the Ballon d’Or nominee ballooned her effort over the bar and towards Ringsend.
It sparked a period of decent home pressure. Hayes - a massive threat off setpieces all day - nodded a McCabe corner into the six-yard box, where Carusa glanced an awkward attempt straight at Shannon Turner. Then Carusa lobbed an inviting cross into the area that was cleared, before Toland got on the end of deep McCabe inswinger, her header dropping a few yards wide.
Right on the half-hour mark, Hayes should have scored. Lucy Quinn pinged in an excellent corner which found the Celtic centre-half free as a bird at the back stick. Her firm header was clawed around the post by Turner, but Ireland would not have to wait long for the opener.
Lucy Quinn celebrates scoring the Ireland women's team's first-ever goal at the Aviva Stadium
Another McCabe corner was nodded away by Rachel Furness as far as Lucy Quinn, who drilled in a sweet first-time volley that nicked Furness’ toe and fizzed into the bottom corner.
Quinn almost caught out Turner five minutes later with an attempted cross that drifted inches over the bar; and she was desperately unlucky not to rattle the net two minutes before half-time. A super McCabe ball in from the left was met by O’Sullivan. Her header fell for Carusa who teed up Quinn, with the 29-year-old’s firm strike cleared off the line by Sarah McFadden.
One up at the break, Ireland almost put the game to bed soon after the turnaround.
An innocuous McCabe pass over the top completely caught out Holloway, who allowed Carusa to sneak goalside of her and race through on goal. Carusa had her hands in the air ready to celebrate as the ball trickled goalwards, but Demi Vance got back to lash it off the line.
Thereafter, things sagged again.
Kyra Carusa fires home Ireland's second goal in a 3-0 win over Northern Ireland at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
The introduction of Abbie Larkin for Payne just before the hour mark energised the crowd and lifted the team. Larkin always backs herself, playing with an exuberance and drive the game was crying out for. She guided a clean half-volley past the post following a McCabe pickout from the left.
Having kept themselves in the contest up the 70-minute mark, Northern Ireland hit the self-destruct button. A horrible mixup between Holloway and Turner, who had raced out of her goal, allowed Carusa to nip between them and gleefully drill the ball in an empty net.
And that was that.
McCabe danced into the area and knocked a right-footed shot wide; Lucy Quinn almost connected with a dinked O’Sullivan cross; and Ireland continued to probe a tiring Northern Ireland.
In the 85th minute substitute Lily Agg put the cherry on top with a downward header that kissed the inside of the post and crept in, despite Turner’s effort.
Toland was deservedly named the player of the match, an apt coronation to signal the beginning of a new era. Next stop Budapest.
Lily Agg heads home the third goal of Ireland's 3-0 win over Northern Ireland
Republic of Ireland: Courtney Brosnan; Heather Payne (Abbie Larkin 59), Diane Caldwell (Izzy Atkinson 89) , Louise Quinn, Caitlin Hayes, Megan Connolly (Lily Agg 82) ; Lucy Quinn (Amber Barrett 82), Tyler Toland, Denise O’Sullivan, Katie McCabe (capt); Kyra Carusa (Emily Whelan 89)
Northern Ireland: Shannon Turner; Demi Vance, Sarah McFadden, Marissa Callaghan (capt, Nadine Caldwell 71), Caragh Hamilton; Simone Magill, Rachel Furness (Chloe McCann 82), Rebecca Holloway (Laura Rafferty 82), Emily Wilson (Lauren Wade 71), Joely Andrews; Abbie Magee
Referee: Hristiyana Guteva (Bulgaria)
Attendance: 35,994
